12/03 - When the Time Comes

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When the Time Comes

Mark 13:24-37 

• What were you doing on Monday, September 26th, 1983?
  • ...In Hickory Level the high temperature was a perfect 72 degrees, with 8 miles of visibility.
  • It was also the day our world almost ended.... Stanislav Petrov, the man who quite possibly saved the world, died this past May at 77.
• The first Sunday in Advent is one of hope: the hope that Light will shine amidst the darkness
  • Jesus spoke of a time of darkness: Signs in the heavens, light being extinguished!
  • Jesus spoke within a time of darkness: Israel occupied by Rome, 400 years since God had spoken through the prophets
  • And the darkness still tries to surround us: 34 years ago we were so close to destruction, and never even knew it!  And this week we find out that North Korea can now reach Washington DC with their brand new ICBMs
• But Jesus assures us that Light will overcome the darkness, and councils us to keep awake!
  • The problem with the darkness is it makes you want to pull the covers over your head, to go to sleep. But He tells us not to, even though it might be more comfortable to be lulled by things that don't matter, to drift off into distraction.
  • Are we awake? We are ready if it were to BE now?, if an angel appeared and said, "It is time to stand before Jesus...?"
  • Would you be comfortable with...
    • your prayer life? ...your treatment of others?...your patience or lack thereof?...
  • If the answer to all of that was yes, then are you maybe too comfortable?
    
    
    
• Final words
  • Do you remember David Cassidy?
    • 1983's Joseph in his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?
    • Teen heartthrob star of the Partridge Family?
    • He also passed away this year, this past week actually, at 67.
    • His daughter Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance on "Arrow") shared this on Twitter:
      • "Words can't express the solace our family’s received from all the love & support during this trying time,” the Arrow actress wrote. “My father’s last words were ‘So much wasted time.’..."
    • Yet we serve a God who "redeems the time," who takes what this world calls a waste and makes it fruitful and holy.
      • "Arise, shine, [people of God] for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you."
      • "Wake up, and strengthen what remains..."
      • May God open our eyes, convict our hearts, lead us to repentance, forgive us our sins, and fit us for His service.